It is with a heavy heart I write about an incident that happened yesterday when five police officers reported for duty in a manner they had done so many times before. The difference between today and the days previously is that they would be cut down in their prime and this would be their last day on the force of the Dallas Police Department due to a man who set out to kill them by sniper fire.

I am not going to go into the rights and wrongs of protesting against the police because I do believe in the fundamental American right to a peaceful assembly and protest should the need arise and sufficient injustice has happened. However this was not that type of protest, this was a cold blooded, pre meditated action done by someone who set out to injure and kill people because of their chosen occupation.

Let me get something straight, it is not a “race thing” or a “police brutality” thing, this would have happened at some point because it would have happened because this is the actions of a sinful man and no more and it does not matter the shade of sin the person had and although there are some racially charged statements out there and these do not help and please know I believe in race because we know from the bible that God made us all part of the human race!

Gun control?

I do not believe that gun control is the answer here; I know that President Obama went straight to that issue following this tragic event however I do not believe that stricter gun control would have prevented this tragedy for the simple reason that if we make guns contraband they will be as easy to get on the black market as say illicit drugs. The only difference in that scenario will be that the bad people who are intent on doing these things will no longer be registered or on lists and will be much harder to find should they use a “legal weapon”.

Guns themselves do not cause shootings until they are operated by someone with intentions to point them and release a bullet towards someone with a murderous intent. That I know is obvious to most people with a sensible mind and regrettably if we remove the legal guns, we will have a situation where only the bad guys have guns. I am not one to criticize our leaders but I feel the President is clouded with an agenda that this administration has had towards gun control and his comments are opportunistic at best.

Sinful nature?

We have had people murdering people as far back as Genesis four where the sinful heart that I previously discussed was displayed when brother murdered brother when the first time they were alone after Cain became jealous of Abel (Genesis 4:8) he is described as “being alone with Abel and he rose up against his brother and killed him” and at that point there was no automatic weapons at that point so we have to conclude that murder is a heart condition rather than a weapons condition.

As tragic as this even was we need to address the sin of the nation first as America needs something, something that it as a whole many people in this great nation have turned their backs on…

What does America need then?

This is difficult to type as I truly feel for the victims’ families, the everyday folks who witnessed this happening and I even pray for the shooter and pray for him as he obviously needs help. As does the country, I feel funny saying this as a non-natural born American (having been born in Scotland) but America truly needs Jesus.

I do not say this as a slur against my home but as a concern for the direction we as a country are heading. I love the USA and I love many things that make it uniquely American but I do believe that we need to return to a relationship with God and repent individually, as families, as small groups, as streets, as communities and as cities and counties and i say this because can you imagine the greatest country in the world actually being the greatest country in the world?

Imagine the country praying for one another, serving each other, preferring each other before ourselves and loving each other in an unconditional agape love, that is my prayer for America as we lick our wounds, get over this tragedy and people who are praying for the first time in ages and looking for answers, I beg you dear Christians be there for those grieving, be there for police officers, first responders and their families. You don’t have to preach, sometimes being there and being an ambassador for Jesus is enough.

If you do not know Jesus and are looking for answers then please know that although this is desolate and everything feels bad, this is not the end, please know that you have a redeemer who died on a cross 2000 years ago for your sins, life has hope and life has meaning and you can be forgiven of your sins.

If you want to know more about a relationship with Jesus then please contact me and I would be happy to converse with you and direct you to someone locally if I am not in your area. Even although I may not know many of you who read this personally, please know I love you and my desire is to have you go deeper in Jesus. It is for the good of our wounded nation!

God bless and I pray this was a blessing and please feel free to like, share or comment on here or whatever social media platforms you use as the Lord leads you to, as always I love questions about this or any other article so please feel free to fill in the form below, all comments are moderated to avoid profanity. TTE TGBTG SDG

Job 1:20 (ESV) Then Job arose and tore his robe and shaved his head and fell on the ground and worshiped. 21 And he said, “Naked I came from my mother’s womb, and naked shall I return. The LORD gave, and the LORD has taken away; blessed be the name of the LORD.” 22 In all this Job did not sin or charge God with wrong.

Those of you who follow popular culture will be aware of the show “Naked and afraid” and the impact that it has on ratings. For a Christian it is quite an interesting premise as we were all without clothing prior to the fall in Genesis. I do not have satellite television so I am not always as up to date with the latest trends or fashions as far as television watching is concerned.

The idea of the show is that the contestants are in the wild somewhere, allowed to be in a dangerous situation with no clothes on and have to hunt, catch food and live off what they find in the wild. Several people I know would have watched it but were put off with the idea that he participants were naked.

What does this have to do with Job?

Not a lot really apart from the word “naked” but let us look at Job for a second… We know that Job was a wealthy man, he had offspring, he had lands, he had livestock, he had more than one property and he had servants. We know all of this because in the first three verses of the book of Job (which has 42 chapters) we see a catalogue of his wealth and in the first nineteen chapters he loses the lot when his sheep are destroyed, his camels are killed, he is attacked by two different enemies and his offspring are killed when they house they are in falls on them.

This is where we read from, if you do not have a bible check out the verses at this link and Job does something that shows his true heart and shows why God calls him “blameless and upright” because he knew the heart of the man. What would he say about your heart? He responds with what is in his heart “Naked I came from my mother’s womb, and naked shall I return. The LORD gave, and the LORD has taken away; blessed be the name of the LORD.”

How would you be in that situation? I can be honest and say I would be mad at losing a fourth of what Job did and I have nowhere near the wealth he has. We all have our hot buttons that start our rage-emotion, for some it is someone holding you up on the freeway by driving dangerously slow, for others it is when the temporary things in your home break, some have a lower price than others to question whether God is truly blessing us and often times it is based on our “things” or stuff” that fills our lives.

Was Job right?

Yes of course he was, he had the attitude to bless and praise the name of God despite losing more than many of us will lose in ten lifetimes. I have never had a day where I have lost all that I had including by offspring so I have no idea what he was going through, however I do admire the heart of Job to leave the results up to God.

The Christian life is not easy and Job is even used as an example in the epistles in the book of James as one of steadfastness and one who endures…

James 5:11 (ESV) Behold, we consider those blessed who remained steadfast. You have heard of the steadfastness of Job, and you have seen the purpose of the Lord, how the Lord is compassionate and merciful.

We all have our things that we stake our value upon, for some it is your job or career; you may be proud or ashamed of what you do to pay the mortgage. For some it would be an idol for you as you slave away at the God or being a workaholic because that is the only place that you see worth in yourself. For some it is ministry and the ministry is about as much as getting your name out there as Gods.

I am not saying that God cannot use these things for his glory but know this; he knows your attitude, heart and motivation behind all that you do. He sees the “naked you” and knows your fears and loves you. He wants you to align your heart to his, your will to his, your gifts and talents to him and surrender the parts of your life to him that you are still holding onto by the skin of your fingertips and leave the results up to him. You may be naked before him but there is no need to be afraid, you have a good good father who loves you and wants to bless you far more than you would ever be able to achieve on your own.

God bless and I pray this was a blessing and please feel free to like, share or comment on here or whatever social media platforms you use as the Lord leads you to, as always I love questions about this or any other article so please feel free to fill in the form below, all comments are moderated to avoid profanity. TTE TGBTG SDG

The two paths – death through Adam or life through Christ – 05/15/2016

Romans 5:12 (ESV) Therefore, just as sin came into the world through one man, and death through sin, and so death spread to all men because all sinned—13 for sin indeed was in the world before the law was given, but sin is not counted where there is no law. 14 Yet death reigned from Adam to Moses, even over those whose sinning was not like the transgression of Adam, who was a type of the one who was to come. 15 But the free gift is not like the trespass. For if many died through one man’s trespass, much more have the grace of God and the free gift by the grace of that one man Jesus Christ abounded for many. 16 And the free gift is not like the result of that one man’s sin. For the judgment following one trespass brought condemnation, but the free gift following many trespasses brought justification. 17 For if, because of one man’s trespass, death reigned through that one man, much more will those who receive the abundance of grace and the free gift of righteousness reign in life through the one man Jesus Christ. 18 Therefore, as one trespass led to condemnation for all men, so one act of righteousness leads to justification and life for all men. 19 For as by the one man’s disobedience the many were made sinners, so by the one man’s obedience the many will be made righteous. 20 Now the law came in to increase the trespass, but where sin increased, grace abounded all the more, 21 so that, as sin reigned in death, grace also might reign through righteousness leading to eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.

This is a series in the book of Romans, for the home page in our study and to see other studies then please click here or our main epistle page is here. My aim is to go through the Book of Romans as the LORD wills.

Let’s start in verse twelve of chapter five…

V12 Therefore, just as sin came into the world through one man, and death through sin, and so death spread to all men because all sinned—13 for sin indeed was in the world before the law was given, but sin is not counted where there is no law.

Paul continues his thought talking about the hereditary sin that we have through Adam. You will notice that he says it is through Adam and not through Eve because Adam was meant to be the head of the home so he was supposed to protect his wife from temptation. Paul takes the account in Genesis 3 as a literal account and ascribes the truth to it that it deserves and there is no debate in Paul’s mind whether Genesis is literal or not. Paul makes the following points

Sin came into world through one man – The buck stops with Adam, as the head of the home he carries the can for his household and as the first man and the father of us all he allows us to partake of his folly. Do not think dear Christian that all sins go unpunished in this lifetime as often times our errors will have repercussions beyond ourselves and our children’s decedents.

If you doubt this then have a read through the book of Nehemiah then you will see that once they became aware of their sins then they made sacrifices for not just their generation but also their children too. If you are a parent you will want God’s blessings on your kids and a good measure of how much you love them as a Christian parent is how much you pray for them. Until very recently I have been lax in this area but that is something I have been burdened to do.

Death through sin – Death entered the world and spread like a virus, due to the fall of man we see the heart of man did not strive with God and a sinful nature overcame him and it required obedience and sacrifice to obey God. Adam was warned that a result of the original sin that death would enter into the world. God had created a place that was safe, that man could go forth and multiply and that was very good and because of sin everything started to go wrong due to the introduction of sin and death.

Death spread to all men because all sinned – As Paul shows us the connection between sin and death we see the connection due to every single family on this planet has had someone who has died in it. If we are truly fortunate then we may have one or two generations in front of us still alive but I have resigned myself to the fact that unless Jesus comes back I will have a funeral service at some point.

I know this because I come from a family of people who have sinned, some have repented of that sin and some haven’t. The point of what I am saying is that at one point we were all in the same sinful state and this is what matters in relation to where you are with God at present.

Paul counters the idea that the law was given to counter sin. The law was never meant to be the antidote to sin but merely to show the difference between God’s standards and what man could achieve. It was always meant to point to Jesus. The law was too late for sin and was not powerful enough to take away sin.

V14 Yet death reigned from Adam to Moses, even over those whose sinning was not like the transgression of Adam, who was a type of the one who was to come. 15 But the free gift is not like the trespass. For if many died through one man’s trespass, much more have the grace of God and the free gift by the grace of that one man Jesus Christ abounded for many.

Was their death between Adam and Moses? Of course there was and reading through Genesis you will see a constant strain of people who were born at some point and then…died – So Paul was correct huh? It wasn’t until the time of Moses that the law was given and people continued to sin. Paul compares Adam and Jesus because at the beginning of their life they were the same – SINLESS! However one caused a separation between man and God and the other repaired a separation and allowed a way to be reconciled to God.

Paul continues in this thought by comparing the free gift of salvation with the original sin because both had consequences for the human race because under Adams transgression allowed people to die in their sins due to their wrongdoing against God and Jesus death allowed the grace of God to be spread on the world. One brought death and eternal separation and one brought life and eternal life.

V16 And the free gift is not like the result of that one man’s sin. For the judgment following one trespass brought condemnation, but the free gift following many trespasses brought justification. 17 For if, because of one man’s trespass, death reigned through that one man, much more will those who receive the abundance of grace and the free gift of righteousness reign in life through the one man Jesus Christ.

Paul goes on to say that just as Adams sin brought condemnation and allowed death to reign over all in contrast Jesus brought justification, it allowed grace to multiply too many and show that Jesus gift of life would be much more than the power of death. Paul reiterates John 14:6 that Jesus was the only way to heaven and through him is the only way to have righteousness.

V18 Therefore, as one trespass led to condemnation for all men, so one act of righteousness leads to justification and life for all men. 19 For as by the one man’s disobedience the many were made sinners, so by the one man’s obedience the many will be made righteous.

And this is where the rubber meets the road folks, when we pass from this earth we will be associated with one of these two paths we will either be associated with the one who justified us or be associated with disobedience against God. There is no neutral ground here because if you follow disobedience then there will only be one result and that will be separation from God but that does not have to be the way that it is. We can be made righteous before God by following Jesus. A good example of this is a topical one due to this being an election year because we will chose to align ourselves with our favored choice, who represents you best and that will answer that question.

V20 Now the law came in to increase the trespass, but where sin increased, grace abounded all the more, 21 so that, as sin reigned in death, grace also might reign through righteousness leading to eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.

And Paul summaries his thoughts here and while the law shone light on the wrongdoing we see that grace was more benevolent than our wrongdoings. Does that not tell you the type of God I serve that regardless of how much you kick against him and try to make it impossible for him to have communion with you he loves you that much that his grace is enough to redeem you as his own. As a result of the disobedience we see that sin reigned in death but God wins due to his grace due to the salvation work of the cross in Jesus Christ.

Paul closes by showing us that we cannot save ourselves, the law and the works based faith will fail and we have to stand on the work of Jesus because that is the only way that this unrighteous man will stand righteous before God. It is not of my own doing but simply my recognition that I have sinned and needed forgiveness from God. We are saved by grace through faith and that is a gift of God. (Ephesians 2:8-9)

Lord willing, in our next article in Romans we will look at verses one through fourteen in chapter six where Paul looks at whether we should continue in sin in order to maximize God’s grace. I pray that you are able to join us as we go through the bible, line by line and precept by precept.

God bless and I pray this was a blessing and please feel free to like, share or comment on here or whatever social media platforms you use as the Lord leads you to, as always I love questions about this or any other article so please feel free to fill in the form below, all comments are moderated to avoid profanity. TTE TGBTG SDG

The ACTS Files – Repent therefore and turn back that your sins may be blotted out – Acts 3:17-26 – 05/09/2016

Acts 3:17 (ESV) “And now, brothers, I know that you acted in ignorance, as did also your rulers. 18 But what God foretold by the mouth of all the prophets, that his Christ would suffer, he thus fulfilled. 19 Repent therefore, and turn back, that your sins may be blotted out, 20 that times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord, and that he may send the Christ appointed for you, Jesus, 21 whom heaven must receive until the time for restoring all the things about which God spoke by the mouth of his holy prophets long ago. 22 Moses said, ‘The Lord God will raise up for you a prophet like me from your brothers. You shall listen to him in whatever he tells you. 23 And it shall be that every soul who does not listen to that prophet shall be destroyed from the people.’ 24 And all the prophets who have spoken, from Samuel and those who came after him, also proclaimed these days. 25 You are the sons of the prophets and of the covenant that God made with your fathers, saying to Abraham, ‘And in your offspring shall all the families of the earth be blessed.’ 26 God, having raised up his servant, sent him to you first, to bless you by turning every one of you from your wickedness.”

Thank you for clicking on this recent installment of “The Acts Files” and this article looks at an account where Peter and John went to pray and God used them in a mighty way. My prayer is that I present these scriptures in a manner that is edifying and worthy of the God I wish to serve. Let’s look at these in a line by line and verse by verse format starting in chapter three verse seventeen…

V17 “And now, brothers, I know that you acted in ignorance, as did also your rulers.

We come into this sermon midway through (beginning is at the following link) and Peter acknowledges that the order to kill Jesus by crucifixion was done without the knowledge of God’s eternal plan to redeem mankind. Peter explains this because although they are guilty of the blood of Jesus and they are guilty through their sin nature, God used that sin nature to achieve his will in this situation. The ignorance was taken into account but it still was sin.

V18 But what God foretold by the mouth of all the prophets, that his Christ would suffer, he thus fulfilled.

Despite their motives to get rid of Jesus it was all done that prophecy may be fulfilled and despite the best efforts of them as individuals they could not stop God and stop the will and plan of God. Christ, even in his sufferings fulfilled what was written of old about him.

V19 Repent therefore, and turn back, that your sins may be blotted out, 20 that times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord, and that he may send the Christ appointed for you, Jesus, 21 whom heaven must receive until the time for restoring all the things about which God spoke by the mouth of his holy prophets long ago.

Peter makes a call to repentance here and that is one of the things I love about many of the good pastors I listen to is that despite where the core verse in the bible they are teaching that they always come back to Jesus and repenting of your sins and the core tenants of the gospel message. Peter also does this and I think that is important because you may always get someone who has never heard the gospel listening to you for the first time and it is important that everything circles back to Jesus.

Peter repeats the call to repentance that he made in Acts 2:38 and calls them to take a u turn in their thinking and as Christians we all understand that because when I reflect on where I was, say 10 years ago then I fully understand about a Holy Spirit changed life. Repentance is not a bad thing because in Christ we have an assured hope that we did not have without Him. Peter is also asking that they be converted to follow Jesus to become that new creation and take advantage of God’s grace so their sins could be blotted out, erased and wiped off any record of our offense to God. What a glorious free gift this Salvation through Christ is!

Jesus will come back and rule the earth in the perfect form of monarchy and righteousness, if you are bummed about your choices for First Minister/President/Prime Minister (delete as appropriate) please be assured that a king is coming who is a glorious king who will have a 100% approval rating and will reign is grace honor and truth. That will be a time of refreshing and Peter goes as far as to say that if the nation repents then God would send Jesus Christ but until then Jesus will remain at the right hand of the Father until the restoration of all things. That Jesus would return and Eden’s curse would be lifted for evermore. This world will continue to get worse until that happens.

V22 Moses said, ‘The Lord God will raise up for you a prophet like me from your brothers. You shall listen to him in whatever he tells you. 23 And it shall be that every soul who does not listen to that prophet shall be destroyed from the people.’

Peter quotes Deuteronomy 18 which states the following…

Deuteronomy 18:15 (ESV) The LORD your God will raise up for you a prophet like me from among you, from your brothers—it is to him you shall listen—16 just as you desired of the LORD your God at Horeb on the day of the assembly, when you said, ‘Let me not hear again the voice of the LORD my God or see this great fire any more, lest I die.’ 17 And the LORD said to me, ‘They are right in what they have spoken. 18 I will raise up for them a prophet like you from among their brothers. And I will put my words in his mouth, and he shall speak to them all that I command him. 19 And whoever will not listen to my words that he shall speak in my name, I myself will require it of him.

And Peter was sure speaking their language because they delighted in their knowledge of the scriptures and loved to boast in the facts they knew of God, that danger is still there today as we become more “fact aware” about the bible and not allow it to permeate our heart. Peter ties in “the prophet” as being the Messiah Jesus Christ that they should indeed listen to and follow. Peter also advises verse 19 was unfolding before their very eyes and was a stark warning to the people at that time. It is true that those who reject Jesus whether they be Jew or Gentile would suffer the same fate.

V24 And all the prophets who have spoken, from Samuel and those who came after him, also proclaimed these days. 25 You are the sons of the prophets and of the covenant that God made with your fathers, saying to Abraham, ‘And in your offspring shall all the families of the earth be blessed.’

The message was consistent through all of the prophets that there would be a Messiah and as sons of the prophets they should have known better as descendants of their spiritual father Abraham that was promised in the book of Genesis and this alone was a real faith tester because Abraham wasn’t much change off of 100 years old and had no kids at that point. His wife was also well advanced in age and if that happened today it would be worldwide news.

If we look at the genealogies in the gospels you will see that the messiah came from the line of ABRAHAM! He was there to bless ALL THE FAMILIES OF THE WORLD. Yes us Gentiles too! First the Jews but also the adopted or grafted in branches to that natural root and that is why I have biblical reasons to doubt a replacement theology position because if we were the replacement to the natural root then the plant itself would not stand as there would be no foundation.

V26 God, having raised up his servant, sent him to you first, to bless you by turning every one of you from your wickedness.

And Peter confirms what I just said that Jesus was sent to the Jews first, to the ones who should have known better but the ones who reject the messiah will open the door by extension to the Gentile nations. Christ is a blessing and is an extension of God’s desire to bless his creation but he also desires first and foremost an intimacy with his creation and we have to be reconciled to God and trusting in Jesus to save you from your sins, the same is true for you dear reader today. I desire to see you as a dear brother or sister in heaven today and if you have not made that commitment then I desire that you do so because “now is the accepted time, today is God’s day of Salvation” (2 Corinthians 6:2)

Lord willing, in our next article in Acts we will look at Acts chapter four verses one through twelve when we see the reaction of the captain of the temple and the Sadducees to what was preached that day. I pray that you are able to join us as we go through the bible, line by line and precept by precept.

God bless and I pray this was a blessing and please feel free to like, share or comment on here or whatever social media platforms you use as the Lord leads you to, as always I love questions about this or any other article so please feel free to fill in the form below, all comments are moderated to avoid profanity. TTE TGBTG SDG

Genesis 3:8 (ESV) And they heard the sound of the LORD God walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and the man and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the LORD God among the trees of the garden. 9 But the LORD God called to the man and said to him, “Where are you?” 10 And he said, “I heard the sound of you in the garden, and I was afraid, because I was naked, and I hid myself.” 11 He said, “Who told you that you were naked? Have you eaten of the tree of which I commanded you not to eat?” 12 The man said, “The woman whom you gave to be with me, she gave me fruit of the tree, and I ate.” 13 Then the LORD God said to the woman, “What is this that you have done?” The woman said, “The serpent deceived me, and I ate.”

This article is designed to be a slightly more in depth article than I did in the “creation series” elsewhere on this website, Lord willing I hope to look at the full creation week and examine the case for a Biblical creation from the mindset that the bible is accurate and a honest and truthful source of history in how we came to be here. I am not here to attack other mindsets as I appreciate that not everyone shares my view of a biblical history and I do welcome lively debate on the subject regardless of your thoughts or beliefs on how the earth was made.

In order to look at this from a biblical context we must first look at the text in question starting in chapter three verse eight…

V8 And they heard the sound of the LORD God walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and the man and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the LORD God among the trees of the garden.

This is it! You can hear the dramatic music playing…God has come back into the garden and the ones who were the main focus of the story have become the villains due to the sins they have committed. God who loves his creation wanted to be with them because before this man and God were together and in constant communion and they were together in a close relationship that today man could only dream of.

God is described as walking in the cool of the day in a natural familiar phrase which suggests that this was a regular occurrence and that the fellowship they shared was familiar. That God was here for his regular afternoon stroll in the garden where he knew he would find his beloved creation.

God, who knows all things, knew of the sin of Adam and Eve before he took that stroll in the garden, but God who loves his children wanted to deal with it immediately. As a parent I understand that idea and I do likewise if my daughter misbehaves and punishment is imminent.

Man’s reaction is expected, they were ashamed, they knew that the temporary coverings would give the game away that they suddenly knew that they were naked and they decided to try to hide from God. They were feeling shame, embarrassment and dread for the first time in their lives and it did not feel good. They are now realizing the full weight of their sin as the one they wanted to go to with any problems they might have is the very one that they hid from now!

V9 But the LORD God called to the man and said to him, “Where are you?”

God asks the question “where are you?” in a concerned tone when he cannot find them in the same manner I would had my daughter be lost from my sight for more than a few seconds (Yes I am that parent) and despite the fact that he knew exactly where they were and what they were feeling we see the very nature of God that he waited for them to come to him because he knew of their shame and dishonor.

V10 And he said, “I heard the sound of you in the garden, and I was afraid, because I was naked, and I hid myself.”

And here we see the distance between God and man, we see from that point man hid himself from God and let’s be honest; man is still doing that today. The only ones who are not hiding as much are the ones who have taken Jesus as their Savior. Today the ones who run are those who do not want to listen to God, his Word or the plan that God has for their lives. Do you relate to any of that? Please do not think that I am not saying that we should not “fear God” but my fear of God is a healthy one which is based on the holiness and it is based on the reverence that I have for God and my desire to serve Him to the best of my ability and in the will of God.

V11 He said, “Who told you that you were naked? Have you eaten of the tree of which I commanded you not to eat?”

Up until this point Adam had the opportunity to appeal to the judge for “good behavior” by “fessing up” and taking ownership of what he had done and essentially broke the only rule he was given up until this point. He chose not to and God had to then ask him they question they were both dreading. This was where the conversation was going to get waaay uncomfortable for the man.

Adam had two options here…

Own the sin and plead mercy from God

Try to blame someone else

Much as none of us want to talk about it, we all sin and because of that we do “fall short of the glory of God” (Romans 3:23) and you notice that God wasn’t interested in what they were wearing or not wearing, the shame they felt or the fact that they hid from him. He wanted to deal with the sin. Adam shows which of the above 2 options he chose in the next verse…

V12 The man said, “The woman whom you gave to be with me, she gave me fruit of the tree, and I ate.”

Like any primary schoolyard in any country you see Adam acting like any first grader who gets caught on a place that he shouldn’t be, he looks for anyone who was with him to shift the blame to. As Eve is the only candidate he decided to say “it wasn’t me, it was that woman that you gave me.

Adam blamed the following for his sin…

Eve for being there

God for sending him Eve

God addresses Adam because he is meant to be the head of the home and he was supposed to be responsible, Adam displays ineptitude in leadership and caused his whole household to sin. There is a lesson there to every man who is married and the head of a home that we have that extra responsibility and I pray for those women who have had to assume the “head of the home” role because their husbands have either left the next or have remained and been unwilling to undertake the role that God had placed them to be in. I say this as a former “Adam” as I in the past and to my shame have not always been a strong head of the home and it had an impact on my home. It was not too late for me and I pray that men who are like this read this article and repent to God and their wives and lead their home in the way God intended.

This may seem obvious but it is not appropriate for Adam to blame God for sending him the woman or blame the woman because God gave the instruction to Adam and not Eve, Eve was deceived and Adam willingly took the apple and sinned. There is a note to us today in our prayer lives that when we talk to God, do not do what Adam did and try to dress up our sin as not sin. Please know that when you pray God can see your heart as well as your words. Even if you dress it up in “holy words” He can still see your MO, your motivation and where your heart lies.

V13 Then the LORD God said to the woman, “What is this that you have done?” The woman said, “The serpent deceived me, and I ate.”

And learning from Adam we see that Eve continues the circle of blame to the serpent. Actually this is correct and whilst she may have had a point she had a certain amount of responsibility. The facts of the matter were that she was deceived but she also knew of God’s command and chose to go against the wishes and commands of God.

That is the issue of Eve that she knew better but allowed herself to be in that situation where she could be entrapped into sin. Like so many of us who allow temptation to take hold of their hearts, she edged in closer and allowed the serpent the opportunity to trick her into misquoting God, she was then entangled in her own words and caught in a situation where until she took that first bite she was still in communion with God.

When she took that action she allowed sin into the world and so started a chain of events that separated man and God, God’s original creation was no longer “very good” and many generations later we see what we have today and we also see the reason why Jesus had to come in the first place and that was to redeem man from many generations of sin by his sacrifice at Calvary. Today’s world is a very pale copy of what God had intended for his creation.

Lord willing, in our next article in Genesis we will look at verses fourteen through twenty four in chapter three when we realize that all sin has consequences and the consequences of that original sin can still be felt today. I pray that you are able to join us as we go through the bible, line by line and precept by precept.

God bless and I pray this was a blessing and please feel free to like, share or comment on here or whatever social media platforms you use as the Lord leads you to, as always I love questions about this or any other article so please feel free to fill in the form below, all comments are moderated to avoid profanity. TTE TGBTG SDG

I read with sadness in my local paper today (Fresno Bee) that a waitress in North Carolina was left a message on her bill for the table that she was serving and in case you are not familiar with the scripture then let me show you what it said…

Leviticus 20:10 (ESV) “If a man commits adultery with the wife of his neighbor, both the adulterer and the adulteress shall surely be put to death. 11 If a man lies with his father’s wife, he has uncovered his father’s nakedness; both of them shall surely be put to death; their blood is upon them. 12 If a man lies with his daughter-in-law, both of them shall surely be put to death; they have committed perversion; their blood is upon them. 13 If a man lies with a male as with a woman, both of them have committed an abomination; they shall surely be put to death; their blood is upon them. 14 If a man takes a woman and her mother also, it is depravity; he and they shall be burned with fire, that there may be no depravity among you. 15 If a man lies with an animal, he shall surely be put to death, and you shall kill the animal. 16 If a woman approaches any animal and lies with it, you shall kill the woman and the animal; they shall surely be put to death; their blood is upon them. 17 “If a man takes his sister, a daughter of his father or a daughter of his mother, and sees her nakedness, and she sees his nakedness, it is a disgrace, and they shall be cut off in the sight of the children of their people. He has uncovered his sister’s nakedness, and he shall bear his iniquity. 18 If a man lies with a woman during her menstrual period and uncovers her nakedness, he has made naked her fountain, and she has uncovered the fountain of her blood. Both of them shall be cut off from among their people. 19 You shall not uncover the nakedness of your mother’s sister or of your father’s sister, for that is to make naked one’s relative; they shall bear their iniquity. 20 If a man lies with his uncle’s wife, he has uncovered his uncle’s nakedness; they shall bear their sin; they shall die childless. 21 If a man takes his brother’s wife, it is impurity. He has uncovered his brother’s nakedness; they shall be childless.

I give the whole paragraph in scripture in submission to give the full context of what was said. Please bear in mind that I was not at that restaurant that day and I am going on a newspaper report of what happened but it does seem quite clear cut what happened.

So what actually happened then?

Looks like a well-known local same sex equal rights campaigner in the area of LBGT rights was serving at her day job and these customers took exception to their waitress. I am assuming of course that there had been previous interactions or previous knowledge of each other as it does not seem probable that in the hour that they would have had been able to ascertain in a casual conversation setting where the waitresses preferences lay in that area. For me something is missing!

Alexandra Judd works at Zada Janes in Charlotte’s Plaza Midwood in Charlotte North Carolina and I am sure she is getting her fifteen minutes of fame and let’s not forget she is a campaigner for “equal rights” as far as same sex marriages in a state that this is a contentious issue so there is a bias in making this story go as far and wide to help her own campaigning efforts, however she does also state in the article (direct quote) “I’ve had a guest leave me a pamphlet to their church as a tip one time, but I didn’t feel as if they were being hateful towards me. The ladies that came in were very rude, and would hardly talk to me – but I never expected this.” So it does appear that these ladies knew who the waitress was and wanted to make a point from the get go.

You can be right in your message but wrong in how you deliver it!

The patrons of that particular eatery are technically correct in their quotation of scripture in that the bible does in fact say what they wanted it to say I would however question the heart behind what they were trying to do. I say this because if someone was to make a request of me to ask what the bible states about homosexual unions, I would point them towards this and a few other verses. (Leviticus 18:22, 1st Corinthians 6:9-11, Romans 1:26-28, 1st Timothy 1:10-11, Genesis 19:1-38 and that’s just the ones that deal with just homosexuality, there are many more that deal with sexually immoral) In that scenario I would be giving a defense of the faith (1st Peter 3:15) that I hold dear to my heart. (Yes I am also writing with a bias)

Whilst they are correct in what they say, I do not condone or endorse how they put their message across. I say that and I am not so much calling out those women because, let’s face it I do not know them and I am likely never to meet them. I am calling out ALL CHRISTIANS in how they deal with situations like this. Let’s look at how Jesus dealt with a woman who was accused of sexual immorality…

John 8:2 (ESV) Early in the morning he came again to the temple. All the people came to him, and he sat down and taught them. 3 The scribes and the Pharisees brought a woman who had been caught in adultery, and placing her in the midst 4 they said to him, “Teacher, this woman has been caught in the act of adultery. 5 Now in the Law Moses commanded us to stone such women. So what do you say?” 6 This they said to test him, that they might have some charge to bring against him. Jesus bent down and wrote with his finger on the ground. 7 And as they continued to ask him, he stood up and said to them, “Let him who is without sin among you be the first to throw a stone at her.” 8 And once more he bent down and wrote on the ground. 9 But when they heard it, they went away one by one, beginning with the older ones, and Jesus was left alone with the woman standing before him. 10 Jesus stood up and said to her, “Woman, where are they? Has no one condemned you?” 11 She said, “No one, Lord.” And Jesus said, “Neither do I condemn you; go, and from now on sin no more.”

When this verse is often looked at the verse “Let him who is without sin among you be the first to throw a stone at her.” Is often the quoted part and as you would expect I quote the whole account in order for you to have appropriate context. Jesus could see the hearts of these people and seen that despite the sin in their own hearts, they wanted to make an example of this woman for the sin she had committed. Jesus knew each one of them, regardless of how holy they looked was hiding something so he asked the question more in a manner to teach the accusers a question as well as to show mercy to the lady. The last part should also be quoted but it rarely is “Neither do I condemn you; go, and from now on sin no more.” This conversation shows to me at least that Jesus was not condoning her lifestyle and commanded her to stop the sin that she was in. Jesus also commanded the religious people in the book of Mark…

Mark 12:28 (ESV) And one of the scribes came up and heard them disputing with one another, and seeing that he answered them well, asked him, “Which commandment is the most important of all?” 29 Jesus answered, “The most important is, ‘Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. 30 And you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.’ 31 The second is this: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no other commandment greater than these.” 32 And the scribe said to him, “You are right, Teacher. You have truly said that he is one, and there is no other besides him. 33 And to love him with all the heart and with all the understanding and with all the strength, and to love one’s neighbor as oneself, is much more than all whole burnt offerings and sacrifices.” 34 And when Jesus saw that he answered wisely, he said to him, “You are not far from the kingdom of God.” And after that no one dared to ask him any more questions.

Jesus was correct in what he said all of the commandments hang on those two, the first relates to the first four commands of the 10 commandments that relate to man’s relationship to God and the last relates to the last six commandments is how we relate to our fellow man. We are to love one another, Jesus went on to say in John that is “how you would know you were my disciples” (John 13:34-35) and in this interaction I don’t see much love to the waitress.

Catch more bees with honey than vinegar

This type of slapping people in the face with scripture is neither effective nor helpful. I do not know the hearts of the people who were eating that day or the hearts of the waitress and I have no idea whether the waitress will ever come to know Jesus or not, that knowledge is well above my Christian “pay grade” however I feel that this whole episode has created a negative feeling towards Jesus in this whole area and beyond.

What I see happening in this area is that the ones who support her campaign will rally round the waitress and the restaurant will either get a surge of business or a decline. Personally I hope it is neither and people eat there if they want to and don’t if they don’t.

Here is the part where I may get a little feedback and to be fair I am not all that fussed about that but I have to ask the question based on these ladies actions… “How did this introduce the gospel of Jesus Christ to the lady they made a ham fisted attempt at introducing scripture to?” Do you think that she will be flocking to her nearest church building at the “love” she received? Does this interaction move her closer to a relationship with Jesus or further away? Not just that lady but everyone who reads this.

“Bible Bashing”

Using scripture to cast a burden on someone who is not living in a relationship with Jesus or telling someone in a threatening manner “I will pray for you” really does not help and constitutes what I call bible bashing, it is trying to beat strangers up with a word that they neither agree with and meeting them with a spirit of conflict that rarely ends well. I am not referring to street evangelists who do a wonderful job and will often times step away if someone is not interested, I am speaking to the Christian Pharisee who Jesus would probably have had words for if he was on his mission today.

I love evangelizing, I do think however if you are going to broach a tricky subject like this that you do so when you have a relationship with that people and I say this from a mindset of being someone who has friends who are homosexual. They know I am a Christian and they also know of the great love I have for them, if they wanted to come to my church I would take them there and I pray for them but in a spirit of love because I genuinely want what is best for them. I know that they may or may not come to a relationship with Jesus but I want to be able to be in a position to promote that and not be a detractor.

The bible is clear on God’s view on this subject, the bible is also clear on a whole bunch of other subjects too and I wish we were as zealous on some of those subjects as we are here.

These are just my thoughts please take them as you will!

God bless and I pray this was a blessing and please feel free to like, share or comment on here or whatever social media platforms you use as the Lord leads you to, as always I love questions about this or any other article so please feel free to fill in the form below, all comments are moderated to avoid profanity. TTE TGBTG SDG

Genesis 3:1 (ESV) Now the serpent was more crafty than any other beast of the field that the LORD God had made. He said to the woman, “Did God actually say, ‘You shall not eat of any tree in the garden’?” 2 And the woman said to the serpent, “We may eat of the fruit of the trees in the garden, 3 but God said, ‘You shall not eat of the fruit of the tree that is in the midst of the garden, neither shall you touch it, lest you die.’” 4 But the serpent said to the woman, “You will not surely die. 5 For God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.” 6 So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was to be desired to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate, and she also gave some to her husband who was with her, and he ate. 7 Then the eyes of both were opened, and they knew that they were naked. And they sewed fig leaves together and made themselves loincloths.

This article is designed to be a slightly more in depth article than I did in the “creation series” elsewhere on this website, Lord willing I hope to look at the full creation week and examine the case for a Biblical creation from the mindset that the bible is accurate and a honest and truthful source of history in how we came to be here. I am not here to attack other mindsets as I appreciate that not everyone shares my view of a biblical history and I do welcome lively debate on the subject regardless of your thoughts or beliefs on how the earth was made.

In order to look at this from a biblical context we must first look at the text in question starting in chapter three verse one…

V1 Now the serpent was more crafty than any other beast of the field that the LORD God had made. He said to the woman, “Did God actually say, ‘You shall not eat of any tree in the garden’?”

As the title suggests this was the first challenge to the authority of God and although the text does not clearly state that this was Satan, however elsewhere in the bible it does make it clear, let’s look at the book of Ezekiel…

Ezekiel 28:13 (ESV) You were in Eden, the garden of God; every precious stone was your covering, sardius, topaz, and diamond, beryl, onyx, and jasper, sapphire, emerald, and carbuncle; and crafted in gold were your settings and your engravings. On the day that you were created they were prepared. 14 You were an anointed guardian cherub. I placed you; you were on the holy mountain of God; in the midst of the stones of fire you walked. 15 You were blameless in your ways from the day you were created, till unrighteousness was found in you. 16 In the abundance of your trade you were filled with violence in your midst, and you sinned; so I cast you as a profane thing from the mountain of God, and I destroyed you, O guardian cherub, from the midst of the stones of fire. 17 Your heart was proud because of your beauty; you corrupted your wisdom for the sake of your splendor. I cast you to the ground; I exposed you before kings, to feast their eyes on you. 18 By the multitude of your iniquities, in the unrighteousness of your trade you profaned your sanctuaries; so I brought fire out from your midst; it consumed you, and I turned you to ashes on the earth in the sight of all who saw you. 19 All who know you among the peoples are appalled at you; you have come to a dreadful end and shall be no more forever.”

And we read that the serpent was crafty and cunning and this is a warning to us today not to engage Satan in a battle of wits or attempt to even outsmart or try to do battle with the word of God against Satan, he knows the word of God and knows how to twist it to suit his ends and we see this in this text that this is what he tries to do with Eve. It is important to recognize that Satan is a created being; he is not equal or equivalent to God. To elevate him to such stature is giving him what he desires most, to have the power of God. He can be defeated and Jesus is more than a match for him.

He understood the woman and understood that by going to the woman and attacking the one that the command was not explicitly given (see Genesis 2:15 onwards) to he may expose a weakness in the relationship of the man and the woman. The question is not a friendly one and exposed by Satan’s purpose in all of our lives that is explained in John 10 where he is listed as “the thief”…

John 10:10 (ESV) The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have life and have it abundantly. 11 I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep. 12 He who is a hired hand and not a shepherd, who does not own the sheep, sees the wolf coming and leaves the sheep and flees, and the wolf snatches them and scatters them. 13 He flees because he is a hired hand and cares nothing for the sheep. 14 I am the good shepherd. I know my own and my own know me, 15 just as the Father knows me and I know the Father; and I lay down my life for the sheep. 16 And I have other sheep that are not of this fold. I must bring them also, and they will listen to my voice. So there will be one flock, one shepherd. 17 For this reason the Father loves me, because I lay down my life that I may take it up again. 18 No one takes it from me, but I lay it down of my own accord. I have authority to lay it down, and I have authority to take it up again. This charge I have received from my Father.”

I know all about Satan’s plan in this area as often times we have been attacked as a family unit when either myself or my wife has been at their weakest and here is how he attacked “He said to the woman, “Did God actually say, ‘You shall not eat of any tree in the garden’?” He decided to go against the very word of God and whilst this may be a bold assertion for us mere mortals, Satan genuinely believes that he is equivalent to God and will attempt to place himself in that place.

He would have had foreknowledge of whether Adam did a good job telling Eve God’s plan for the garden and he approached it in a manner taking what God had said as a positive (He gave them so much to eat and a perfect paradise to roam in) and the devil focused in on the ONE LIMITATION that was given and even then he asked the question in a manner that was designed to trip up Eve.

V2 And the woman said to the serpent, “We may eat of the fruit of the trees in the garden, 3 but God said, ‘You shall not eat of the fruit of the tree that is in the midst of the garden, neither shall you touch it, lest you die.’”

Eve was really proud to be asked this question and answered him in the first place and secondly that she answered in her own pride and here is the first mistakes made in this whole unfortunate encounter. She also does not name the tree by name and lastly she adds her own addition to the end of the command from God. Here is what God actually said…

Genesis 2:15 (ESV) The LORD God took the man and put him in the garden of Eden to work it and keep it. 16 And the LORD God commanded the man, saying, “You may surely eat of every tree of the garden, 17 but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die.”

No-one expects Eve to repeat the command verbatim but she was not supposed to add to the words of God and this is what Satan jumped on. She added the “nor shall you touch it” and whilst it may have been a sound policy to avoid temptations she was not bound by that recommendation by God and I see that a lot with Christians who bind themselves up in a whole bunch of traditional dogma that is not actually biblical and have been passed down as a tradition as opposed to sound theology. Eve really had a poor understanding of what God had actually said and did not understand the heart behind it. This for me as a man, husband and father falls squarely on Adams shoulders as he was the one who was supposed to take care of that.

V4 But the serpent said to the woman, “You will not surely die. 5 For God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.”

As stated prior, Satan jumped on this like a flash exposing her false doctrine he had planned this and from the first moment asking the question in the way he did he opened up this situation to his benefit. He did not have to discredit God’s word; he just had to make Eve doubt and want to defend it. That is how he got a foothold in that conversation and from this he then went on the attack.

He stated “You will not surely die. For God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.” He starts with questioning to make sure that Eve did not know what she was talking about and now moves in for the kill by contradicting God’s word. God’s word shows two good ways of dealing with the devil…

Jude 1:9 (ESV) But when the archangel Michael, contending with the devil, was disputing about the body of Moses, he did not presume to pronounce a blasphemous judgment, but said, “The Lord rebuke you.”

Ephesians 4:27 (ESV) and give no opportunity to the devil.

Basically the bible states that we should not be tackling him dead on and instead leaving him to the Lord because greater is he that is in us than the one who tempts us. The devil concentrates on what he believes the benefits would be to them if they carry out this sin. The most dangerous part of this that there was a little truth in that their eyes would be opened…to their sin and just how inferior and different they were to God. Satan promised the opposite, he played on the pride that was in the heart of the woman wanting to be like the one who created them and made them fall in the same way he did, by wanting to be equal with God.

V6 So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was to be desired to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate, and she also gave some to her husband who was with her, and he ate.

Satan focused on how good the food was and Eve looks at the food and is enticed by the very thing that we are warned about in the epistle that we call First John…

1st John 2:15 (ESV) Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. 16 For all that is in the world—the desires of the flesh and the desires of the eyes and pride of life—is not from the Father but is from the world. 17 And the world is passing away along with its desires, but whoever does the will of God abides forever.

Eve did all of that…

She gave into the desires of the flesh – when the woman saw that the tree was good for food

the desires of the eyes – was a delight to the eyes

and lastly the pride of life – desired to make one wise

Now the seed was sown Eve was sunk, she had backed herself into a corner and now wanted to go against God. This is a common story because every sin, whether it is a small sin like disobedience or a slightly larger one like lusting after another, they all start in the same manner, they start with pitching your tent closer and closer to the place of sin until the sin overtakes you. Whether that is a look that gravitates to a thought that cultivates a desire and concludes with an obsession it is all the same.

Up to this point it was all temptation and Eve still had to make the choice to sin and she chose that path but before you get to hard on Eve please note that it does state that her husband was with her and he took the fruit from his wife and ate it. As the man of the house he should have covered his wife and protected her from the devil. Eve was deceived but Adam had all the information direct from God and he chose to willingly rebel against God.

V7 Then the eyes of both were opened, and they knew that they were naked. And they sewed fig leaves together and made themselves loincloths.

True enough their eyes were opened and the promise was fulfilled, they saw their nakedness and understood shame for the first time. They understood exposure, they understood vulnerability and they were experiencing things that God did not want them to have to go through. We know this as guilt, suddenly everything was worse and they had realized that they had done something wrong and they decided to cover their shame with leaves and for the first time they had a desire to be modest. God made us to be beautiful in who we are, our sin and fallen nature is the reason we wear clothes.

Lord willing, in our next article in Genesis we will look at verses eight through thirteen in chapter three when we look at what happens the next time Adam and Eve talk to God. I pray that you are able to join us as we go through the bible, line by line and precept by precept.

God bless and I pray this was a blessing and please feel free to like, share or comment on here or whatever social media platforms you use as the Lord leads you to, as always I love questions about this or any other article so please feel free to fill in the form below, all comments are moderated to avoid profanity. TTE TGBTG SDG

Genesis 2:18 (ESV) Then the LORD God said, “It is not good that the man should be alone; I will make him a helper fit for him.” 19 Now out of the ground the LORD God had formed every beast of the field and every bird of the heavens and brought them to the man to see what he would call them. And whatever the man called every living creature, that was its name. 20 The man gave names to all livestock and to the birds of the heavens and to every beast of the field. But for Adam there was not found a helper fit for him. 21 So the LORD God caused a deep sleep to fall upon the man, and while he slept took one of his ribs and closed up its place with flesh. 22 And the rib that the LORD God had taken from the man he made into a woman and brought her to the man. 23 Then the man said, “This at last is bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh; she shall be called Woman, because she was taken out of Man.” 24 Therefore a man shall leave his father and his mother and hold fast to his wife, and they shall become one flesh. 25 And the man and his wife were both naked and were not ashamed.

This article is designed to be a slightly more in depth article than I did in the “creation series” elsewhere on this website, Lord willing I hope to look at the full creation week and examine the case for a Biblical creation from the mindset that the bible is accurate and a honest and truthful source of history in how we came to be here. I am not here to attack other mindsets as I appreciate that not everyone shares my view of a biblical history and I do welcome lively debate on the subject regardless of your thoughts or beliefs on how the earth was made.

In order to look at this from a biblical context we must first look at the text in question starting in chapter two verse eighteen…

V18 Then the LORD God said, “It is not good that the man should be alone; I will make him a helper fit for him.”

So far everything had been “good” and God saw that something for the first time was “not good” and that was the loneliness of man. God saw the issue and like any loving father sought to remedy it. He states that he would make a “helper fit for him”. My wife has a blog called “Keeper of his home” and her first book sought to show the original plan for God’s helper. God being God he created a helper fit for man, not one who was inferior to man in any way and many women have been maligned because some men have read “helper” as “servant” and that was never God’s plan.

Yes, God gave the plans to Adam and Adam and Eve carried out the work as God gave Adam the responsibility and accountability to be in charge and be “head of the home” but as we read in Ephesians five we are to do it in love…

Ephesians 5:22 (ESV) Wives, submit to your own husbands, as to the Lord. 23 For the husband is the head of the wife even as Christ is the head of the church, his body, and is himself its Savior. 24 Now as the church submits to Christ, so also wives should submit in everything to their husbands. 25 Husbands, love your wives, as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her, 26 that he might sanctify her, having cleansed her by the washing of water with the word, 27 so that he might present the church to himself in splendor, without spot or wrinkle or any such thing, that she might be holy and without blemish. 28 In the same way husbands should love their wives as their own bodies. He who loves his wife loves himself. 29 For no one ever hated his own flesh, but nourishes and cherishes it, just as Christ does the church, 30 because we are members of his body. 31 “Therefore a man shall leave his father and mother and hold fast to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh.” 32 This mystery is profound, and I am saying that it refers to Christ and the church. 33 However, let each one of you love his wife as himself, and let the wife see that she respects her husband.

As we see in the Adam and Eve model, God gave Adam one rule and he gave it to his wife, we will read more on that in Genesis three, but with the responsibility came the accountability because if that house was going to fall it would fall on the head of the home.

V19 Now out of the ground the LORD God had formed every beast of the field and every bird of the heavens and brought them to the man to see what he would call them. And whatever the man called every living creature, that was its name. 20 The man gave names to all livestock and to the birds of the heavens and to every beast of the field. But for Adam there was not found a helper fit for him.

Adam was given an important job in that it was his job to name the animals that were all around him and as it was the garden that was gifted to man by God he was allowed to call them what he saw fit. Let’s face it, Adam at that point was the smartest guy that ever lived!

But none of the animals were a fit helper for Adam. He didn’t name them human or man, God did this to show Adam that he was different from the animals and these animals were not for mating purposes however God had a plan to fix this.

V21 So the LORD God caused a deep sleep to fall upon the man, and while he slept took one of his ribs and closed up its place with flesh. 22 And the rib that the LORD God had taken from the man he made into a woman and brought her to the man. 23 Then the man said, “This at last is bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh; she shall be called Woman, because she was taken out of Man.”

I have grouped these verses together deliberately. This is the first recorded surgery in the bible and this shows to me how much God knew his creation because I know that if someone was to attempt to remove a rib from me when I was asleep then I would know all about it. He did all of this and closed over the flesh so it sounds to me as if there wasn’t even a wound.

I think it is beautiful how the woman was made, God could literally have used anything to create woman but he chose to use part of man to create this helper and Adam got the drift by incorporating the name man in the name of this beautiful new creature. He called here Woman because she was taken from the man and I believe that God did this to remind Adam that they are essentially one.

Anyone who has been in a relationship with a woman will know that as much as we are alike, we can be so different sometimes and we also know that as much as they drive us nuts we would be lost without them and today was the beginning of the human race when Eve came along because when we added Eve to the mix then Adam’s line could increase and he would have that love and companionship that he desired.

Adam states that “This at last is bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh; she shall be called Woman, because she was taken out of Man.” Adam knew that although Eve was like him (human) she was not like him (gender) I love that he says “at last” because you will know that like a child on Christmas morning he would have diligently searched for that prize that he was hoping he was getting. He had searched all of the animals and was anticipating someone like Eve and God being the perfect creator he was you know that Adam was delighted with Woman.

V24 Therefore a man shall leave his father and his mother and hold fast to his wife, and they shall become one flesh. 25 And the man and his wife were both naked and were not ashamed.

And here we see the first marriage ceremony in the original blueprint of God. We see the following about God’s plan…

It was MONOGAMUS – There was one man and one woman

It was HETROSEXUAL – Again one man and one woman

It was HUMAN – There was not an animal found to be a helper to Adam

I truly am not trying to be offensive when I state this I truly am not but the idea of sexual relations with animals, same sex, many partners was never in God’s plan, he never designed the human heart to go through the trauma that a lot of this promiscuous actions that we put ourselves through. (Especially the multiple partners)

Adam and Eve were one flesh, they were intimate, they were in union and they were spiritually compatible. This is not an excuse to look at your own partner and state “well they are not, so it must not be God’s plan for me” Often times when you feel like that it is because you have chosen it not to be so.

The text states that “Therefore a man shall leave his father and his mother and hold fast to his wife, and they shall become one flesh” and that is the truth, the man has to be a man and lead his wife and family according to what God has called them to do. It is important for both people in the marriage to not allow extended family take an unwelcome or overbearing role in the marriage that God ordained. It gets a little crowded with more than two people in the marriage. This is why they are called one flesh, Jesus and Paul both quoted this in relation to marriage…

Jesus…

Matthew 19:1 (ESV) Now when Jesus had finished these sayings, he went away from Galilee and entered the region of Judea beyond the Jordan. 2 And large crowds followed him, and he healed them there. 3 And Pharisees came up to him and tested him by asking, “Is it lawful to divorce one’s wife for any cause?” 4 He answered, “Have you not read that he who created them from the beginning made them male and female, 5 and said, ‘Therefore a man shall leave his father and his mother and hold fast to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh’? 6 So they are no longer two but one flesh. What therefore God has joined together, let not man separate.” 7 They said to him, “Why then did Moses command one to give a certificate of divorce and to send her away?” 8 He said to them, “Because of your hardness of heart Moses allowed you to divorce your wives, but from the beginning it was not so. 9 And I say to you: whoever divorces his wife, except for sexual immorality, and marries another, commits adultery.”

Paul…

Ephesians 5:29 (ESV) For no one ever hated his own flesh, but nourishes and cherishes it, just as Christ does the church, 30 because we are members of his body. 31 “Therefore a man shall leave his father and mother and hold fast to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh.” 32 This mystery is profound, and I am saying that it refers to Christ and the church. 33 However, let each one of you love his wife as himself, and let the wife see that she respects her husband.

Paul brings up a tremendous point that the marriage is an example of the relationship between Christ and the church. This is why it is vitally important that we do things God’s way.

Lastly “the man and his wife were both naked and were not ashamed” this gives a great answer to the question “Why do we wear clothes these days?” and the answer is to cover our shame. They were still at one with God and there was no sin, no issues and they were in a perfect paradise and temperature that outerwear was not required to either stay cool or be hot. They were exposed to God and other man because they had not fallen into sin and they were natural before themselves and before God.

Lord willing, in our next article in Genesis we will look at verses one through seven of chapter three when we see Adam and Eve encounter their first trial when they meet the serpent. I pray that you are able to join us as we go through the bible, line by line and precept by precept.

God bless and I pray this was a blessing and please feel free to like, share or comment on here or whatever social media platforms you use as the Lord leads you to, as always I love questions about this or any other article so please feel free to fill in the form below, all comments are moderated to avoid profanity. TTE TGBTG SDG

Romans 4:13 (ESV) For the promise to Abraham and his offspring that he would be heir of the world did not come through the law but through the righteousness of faith. 14 For if it is the adherents of the law who are to be the heirs, faith is null and the promise is void. 15 For the law brings wrath, but where there is no law there is no transgression. 16 That is why it depends on faith, in order that the promise may rest on grace and be guaranteed to all his offspring—not only to the adherent of the law but also to the one who shares the faith of Abraham, who is the father of us all, 17 as it is written, “I have made you the father of many nations”—in the presence of the God in whom he believed, who gives life to the dead and calls into existence the things that do not exist. 18 In hope he believed against hope, that he should become the father of many nations, as he had been told, “So shall your offspring be.” 19 He did not weaken in faith when he considered his own body, which was as good as dead (since he was about a hundred years old), or when he considered the barrenness of Sarah’s womb. 20 No unbelief made him waver concerning the promise of God, but he grew strong in his faith as he gave glory to God, 21 fully convinced that God was able to do what he had promised. 22 That is why his faith was “counted to him as righteousness.” 23 But the words “it was counted to him” were not written for his sake alone, 24 but for ours also. It will be counted to us who believe in him who raised from the dead Jesus our Lord, 25 who was delivered up for our trespasses and raised for our justification.

This is a series in the book of Romans, for the home page in our study and to see other studies then please click here or our main epistle page is here. My aim is to go through the Book of Romans as the LORD wills.

Let’s start in verse thirteen of chapter four…

V13 For the promise to Abraham and his offspring that he would be heir of the world did not come through the law but through the righteousness of faith.

Paul states a great point that makes the arguments of the day mute when he states that the promise between God and Abraham did not come through the law but the righteousness of faith. The law came later than the Abrahamic covenant and was dependent on a faithful God as opposed to an unfaithful line of family who could never hold up to the terms that God requested. Abraham’s hereditary honor of being the father of faith would come from exactly that, his simple faith in God.

V14 For if it is the adherents of the law who are to be the heirs, faith is null and the promise is void.

And if we take this point to its logical conclusion then the ones who are “law only” if they were to be heirs then that would render faith a futile exercise. You have to ask the question “Can you keep all of the law?” (And remember there are 613 laws in the Mosaic law) Look at what James states about the “law keepers”…

James 2:8 (ESV) If you really fulfill the royal law according to the Scripture, “You shall love your neighbor as yourself,” you are doing well. 9 But if you show partiality, you are committing sin and are convicted by the law as transgressors. 10 For whoever keeps the whole law but fails in one point has become accountable for all of it. 11 For he who said, “Do not commit adultery,” also said, “Do not murder.” If you do not commit adultery but do murder, you have become a transgressor of the law. 12 So speak and so act as those who are to be judged under the law of liberty. 13 For judgment is without mercy to one who has shown no mercy. Mercy triumphs over judgment.

“For whoever keeps the whole law but fails in one point has become accountable for all of it” (v10) those words send shivers down my spine! We cannot be declared righteous by following a creed or code of conduct otherwise there was no point in Jesus dying on the cross for our sins.

V15 For the law brings wrath, but where there is no law there is no transgression.

As stated above in the James scripture the “law brings wrath” because we are unable to keep the law and that would be seen as a way for God to nuke us with his wrath. This is what makes Christianity so different in that we are not constantly trying to appease an angry deity or god. But our God has grace upon us and does not justify us based on a set of unachievable rules.

If we use the law as the ruler then we see our guilt before God. That is not that we absolve our sins through ignorance of Gods requests. Transgression means that we overstepped a boundary that was set by God, a clear defined command that God made, Paul makes the hypothesis that if there is no law there is no transgression and that keeping the law is not the be all and end all of a relationship with God.

We are in a relationship with God and like any other relationship that you have it is based on trust and in the original sin between Adam and God that trust was broken and created a division between man and God. God planned redemption for his creation and the center of that loving and trusting relationship is not the keeping of the law. So that we do not take this out of context I would urge that you read on to get Paul’s point…

V16 That is why it depends on faith, in order that the promise may rest on grace and be guaranteed to all his offspring—not only to the adherent of the law but also to the one who shares the faith of Abraham, who is the father of us all, 17 as it is written, “I have made you the father of many nations”—in the presence of the God in whom he believed, who gives life to the dead and calls into existence the things that do not exist.

So rather than the law it depends on faith, when we believe we have that promise of grace. We are not saved by faith rather we are saved by God’s unmerited favor and that is what grace is. It is God giving us a benefit that we do not deserve and saving us based upon his own benevolence and will that none should perish.

Does that mean that we all get a “free pass” to heaven? No that is not the case! Paul states quite eloquently that salvation is based on faith. To unlock that free gift of grace we must also have some input and our input in that relationship is faith, not works, lest any man should boast!

This is why the promise rests on grace and is guaranteed to all of his offspring. God has a heart of acceptance and forgiveness and desires that no one should be without the opportunity of salvation. God is sure and is a God of truth, there is no deceit in him and that is why salvation is based on the grace of God (promises of God) rather than the fallible sinful promises of man (in keeping the law). Let’s look at the promise between God and Abraham…

Genesis 17:1 (ESV) Genesis When Abram was ninety-nine years old the LORD appeared to Abram and said to him, “I am God Almighty; walk before me, and be blameless, 2 that I may make my covenant between me and you, and may multiply you greatly.” 3 Then Abram fell on his face. And God said to him, 4 “Behold, my covenant is with you, and you shall be the father of a multitude of nations. 5 No longer shall your name be called Abram, but your name shall be Abraham, for I have made you the father of a multitude of nations. 6 I will make you exceedingly fruitful, and I will make you into nations, and kings shall come from you. 7 And I will establish my covenant between me and you and your offspring after you throughout their generations for an everlasting covenant, to be God to you and to your offspring after you.

We see that through Abraham in Gods promise to him that he would be the father of many nations see that he was the father of faith in the Jewish religion and though his offspring came a Messiah who would sacrifice his life so that he world could be saved through faith.

V18 In hope he believed against hope, that he should become the father of many nations, as he had been told, “So shall your offspring be.” 19 He did not weaken in faith when he considered his own body, which was as good as dead (since he was about a hundred years old), or when he considered the barrenness of Sarah’s womb.

Abraham believed in hope and he went from being called “father of many” (Abram) to being called “father of many nations” (Abraham) and despite being advanced in years God opened the womb of Sarah and fulfilled that “everlasting covenant” that he promised to Abraham and is still faithful to that covenant. God’s favor extends through Abraham both as a physical offspring and spiritual.

Paul makes note of the age of Abraham and gave glory to God for what would be attributed to God as a miracle. Think about it, when was the last time that you read about a 100 year old father in the news? Abraham had faith that God would provide but he was not perfect in his actions, he had a child under his wife’s instructions to the Egyptian handmaiden Hagar. God redeemed him despite his mistake; he granted an inheritance to the child that was outside of God’s plan called Ishmael.

Abraham gives us a good example of how we should be in our faith. Yes, Abraham was promised an offspring and despite his circumstances he did believe and he also would have continued to have relations with his wife and allow God to open the womb in his time. The promise of God did not mean that he stopped doing what he had to do and often times that is a lesson that we could learn in today’s Christianity. If you are called to something and know that it is a definite calling from God do you sit back, relax and just assume that God will do everything for you? Or do you prepare yourself; do you take the steps that you need to take in faith in order to be ready when God opens that door for you? Sometimes it takes greater faith to be diligent in the small things and leave the results up to God. That is obedience also and Abraham is also a good example of someone who is obedient in their faith as he took the necessary steps in order to be ready when God opened that door.

V20 No unbelief made him waver concerning the promise of God, but he grew strong in his faith as he gave glory to God, 21 fully convinced that God was able to do what he had promised. 22 That is why his faith was “counted to him as righteousness.”

Abraham’s faith was strengthened and boy could we learn from that example. Abraham did not waver in faith and gave glory to God and Abraham really had two options and that was to trust God or not but based on what we read in the book of Genesis and here in Romans we see quite clearly that his faith was counted to him as righteousness because he remained and grew strong in the belief that God was going to keep his promises. You can apply the same principle to your own lives when you look at what you trust God with and what you don’t! That is a good measurement of how strong your faith actually is. Often times our faith is tested because we don’t understand God’s timing is perfect and He actually knows what he is doing.

V23 But the words “it was counted to him” were not written for his sake alone, 24 but for ours also. It will be counted to us who believe in him who raised from the dead Jesus our Lord, 25 who was delivered up for our trespasses and raised for our justification.

And Paul explains that further that Abraham is an example to us all, that we all can be deemed as righteous through faith, that we be seen as though we have never sinned. Verse 24 states that “for ours also. It will be counted to us who believe in him who raised from the dead Jesus our Lord” and that shows belief in his saving work on the cross and also that he died on the cross for our sins as the wholly acceptable sacrifice for our sins. He states that Jesus was “delivered up for our trespasses and raised for our justification” and it is important that you remember that the journey of Jesus life does not end at the cross but death could not hold him and he was raised up and even today is in heaven. This is what Paul states here rather eloquently is a fulfillment of the Old Testament scripture and Abraham is a great example of why we are justified by faith rather than works. Paul also reiterates this point in his epistle to the Ephesian church…

Ephesians 2:8 (ESV) For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, 9 not a result of works, so that no one may boast.

Lord willing, in our next article in Romans we will look at verses one through eleven in chapter five when we look at having peace with God through faith, it is a great piece of scripture full of wonderful doctrine. I pray that you are able to join us as we go through the bible, line by line and precept by precept.

God bless and I pray this was a blessing and please feel free to like, share or comment on here or whatever social media platforms you use as the Lord leads you to, as always I love questions about this or any other article so please feel free to fill in the form below, all comments are moderated to avoid profanity. TTE TGBTG SDG

Genesis 2:10 (ESV) A river flowed out of Eden to water the garden, and there it divided and became four rivers. 11 The name of the first is the Pishon. It is the one that flowed around the whole land of Havilah, where there is gold. 12 And the gold of that land is good; bdellium and onyx stone are there. 13 The name of the second river is the Gihon. It is the one that flowed around the whole land of Cush. 14 And the name of the third river is the Tigris, which flows east of Assyria. And the fourth river is the Euphrates. 15 The LORD God took the man and put him in the garden of Eden to work it and keep it. 16 And the LORD God commanded the man, saying, “You may surely eat of every tree of the garden, 17 but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die.”

This article is designed to be a slightly more in depth article than I did in the “creation series” elsewhere on this website, Lord willing I hope to look at the full creation week and examine the case for a Biblical creation from the mindset that the bible is accurate and a honest and truthful source of history in how we came to be here. I am not here to attack other mindsets as I appreciate that not everyone shares my view of a biblical history and I do welcome lively debate on the subject regardless of your thoughts or beliefs on how the earth was made.

In order to look at this from a biblical context we must first look at the text in question starting in chapter two verse ten…

V10 A river flowed out of Eden to water the garden, and there it divided and became four rivers.

In this part of the scripture we learn more about the Garden of Eden and what a luscious place that it was. God truly did provide all that his children needed and the original plan was far from what we see today in our fallen decaying world.

When we read this description of the garden it is designed to give us an eye-witness account of how it looked and explain that there was plenty water and plenty of nature as it was created in its beauty.

V11 The name of the first is the Pishon. It is the one that flowed around the whole land of Havilah, where there is gold. 12 And the gold of that land is good; bdellium and onyx stone are there. 13 The name of the second river is the Gihon. It is the one that flowed around the whole land of Cush. 14 And the name of the third river is the Tigris, which flows east of Assyria. And the fourth river is the Euphrates.

The rivers are given names that would have been replicated in the post flood world, the rivers will probably not be in the same place as they were post flood because of the great geologic changes that the flood caused and it is perfectly possible that new rivers may have been called pre flood names.

I equate this to American city names; I see when I am researching the area around here that often times cities are named after where the people came from. An example of this is where I live in California is named after a city in South West England. Is it the same place? No, but it carries the same name.

We also see that there are gold and precious stones in the original creation and we know this is before the fall of man because Adam is not displaying a greed nature and is not digging up those gold or precious gems to stockpile them. That comes much later! Even if he did, he would be the richest man in the world (of a population of one!) You could put a case that Adam was already at the pinnacle of man; he was the smartest, the handsomest and the one who was closest to God at this time!

V15 The LORD God took the man and put him in the garden of Eden to work it and keep it.

I love that work was part of God’s original plan! It kinda flies in the face of those who preach that if you will be faithful to God then you will lack nothing and God will grant all of your wishes and desires of your heart like some big Genie in the sky.

I am not mocking the notion that God provides, please do not misunderstand what I am saying, however I believe that God makes supplication for our needs and not for the whims and fantasies of our hearts because our hearts are deceitful and wicked and will often will not seek after the things of God and will want to seek after selfish gains and ambition.

You will notice that God doesn’t say, I have created all this wonderful, so just laze about under that tree and eat all day. God establishes the pattern even from the first book of the bible that his people are to be diligent at work, to do their best to be without criticism, to be people of integrity and an example that makes others question “what is it about those people that make then who they are?”

V16 And the LORD God commanded the man, saying, “You may surely eat of every tree of the garden, 17 but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die.”

Like every good parent, God allows man to make choices and basically gives them only one rule that they have to abide with. He allows them a choice of all the trees of the garden except for the “forbidden fruit”. Right from the beginning he allowed man to be a creature with free will as God does not wish to have robotic or zombie worship, he seeks our love and obedience rather than dead religion.

God allowed us to choose whether to go with him or against him and although we have a sin nature that has been passed down from Adam, we still have that choice today and the choice is whether to go with God or go against him. God told the man directly the only way he could mess up and as we learn temptation was too much. God states what the choice was and what the repercussions were.

Lord willing, in our next article in Genesis we will look at verses eighteen through twenty five when we see God’s compassion on man when he makes him a helper. I pray that you are able to join us as we go through the bible, line by line and precept by precept.

God bless and I pray this was a blessing and please feel free to like, share or comment on here or whatever social media platforms you use as the Lord leads you to, as always I love questions about this or any other article so please feel free to fill in the form below, all comments are moderated to avoid profanity. TTE TGBTG SDG